UCLA vs. Berkeley vs. Georgetown vs. McGill for a year abroad

Student Lounge International Students
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<p>Jeez it feels strange to be back here... used this forum loads when I was applying to college in the US (rejected by pretty much every college in the lower 48 :) ), but haven't been on since.</p>

<p>Anyway, I'm now in the second year of my undergrad degree at Trinity College Dublin (I'm from the UK originally), and thinking of taking a year abroad next year. My university has exchange programmes with all the colleges above, and I'm trying to decide where to apply. I feel I have a reasonably good grasp of the universities as a whole, but I would be very interested to hear anyone's opinion on what they'd be like for a one-year exchange student, particularly in terms of student life / social life and how easy it'd be to make friends with US students. Spending the whole year with a load of other international students would seem like a wasted opportunity.</p>

<p>Unfortunately it's unlikely I'll be able to visit any of them before I've submitted my application.</p>

<p>Thanks very much,
rman</p>

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<p>Just realised that I should have said “how easy it’d be to make friends with Canadian students” in the case of McGill - that’s what I get for not reading my post through properly :P</p>

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<p>It might depend on your field of study. I suggest you go to the college specific boards to get idea of the student/social life. About the cities I can say this - Georgetown is nice for being close to the capital, lots of things to do. UCLA - I think it is in one of the upscale areas of LA, would need a car, but better weather. Berkeley is…Berkeley. Very vibrant, and a different experience, close to SF, good public transportation. The intensity of your major may determine your free/social time. I heard Berkeley is pretty intense course load. If you are looking to be intellectually stimulated, Berkeley would win hands down…I think.</p>

<p>check this out
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-los-angeles/17038-berkeley-campus-vs-ucla-campus.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-los-angeles/17038-berkeley-campus-vs-ucla-campus.html&lt;/a&gt;
(lots of different opinions)</p>

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<p>For georgetown check this <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/georgetown-university/1236970-what-do-you-like-about-georgetown.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/georgetown-university/1236970-what-do-you-like-about-georgetown.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;